|
I fly PnP somewhat regularly and have done Angel Flights in the past. There is no compensation at play for those flights, making them perfectly legal Part 91 operations. I pay, out of pocket, 100% of the costs of those flights. The FAA has conclusively ruled (first in 1993) that the ability of a pilot, who is paying 100% of the costs of the flight, to claim a charitable deduction for those costs is NOT compensation. Flight time that you paid 100% of the costs to do is never a problem in terms of a compensation concern for a private pilot. From:
http://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2012/media/JulAug201... As you probably know, the FAA interprets “compensation” as meaning the receipt of anything of value. However, the FAA Chief Counsel’s office has clarified the issue of charitable deductions in a number of interpretations. Specifically, it has stated that “since Congress has provided for the tax
deductibility of some costs of charitable
acts, the FAA will not treat charitable
deductions of such costs, standing alone,
as constituting ‘compensation or hire’ for the purpose
of enforcing [the Federal Aviation Regulations].”
(Note: This interpretation is specifically addressed
in FAA Order 8900.1 (Volume 4, Chapter 5, Section
1, paragraph 4-922) which also states that “inspectors
should not treat the tax deductibility of costs as
constituting ‘compensation or hire’ when flights are
conducted for humanitarian purposes.”) It would be hard to argue that Flytenow's operations fall into the category of "conducted for humanitarian purposes", plus the fact that money is changing hands, so this situation isn't at all like AngelFlight, PnP, Dove Flights (Citation Special Olympics airlift), etc. in the eyes of the FAA. |